Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Wednesday Noonish

I see on the last blog I got my days switched around. It’s Wednesday morning now and I am going home. The car is packed. Noon is the magic time and I will probably be a little early. We’ll have to make another trip to get everything but that’s OK. I will try to write tomorrow, however, it may take a little time to get the computer up and running.

This morning I talked with Lee. He says that we will be up and running on Friday, May 18th. All the cabins will be ready and food will be served in the bistro.

So what will you see at Gunflint? On the way up the Trail there is one place where the fire crossed near Mayhew Lake. It will be black but probably not for too big an area. I haven’t seen it myself but that is what I have been told.

Once you get to Gunflint, it will be difficult to see any effects of the fire. All our hiking and horseback riding trails in the back basin are untouched. Nothing was burned around the buildings. We were very, very lucky.

If you look across the lake, it will be burned on the north shore from the narrows to the east. Right now that will be black but within a short time it will start to green up. We have an opportunity to watch a forest renew itself. It wasn’t something we picked but let’s make the most of it. I remember some years back when Yellowstone National Park had a huge fire. It was changed but people still love to visit it.

This year we will be out looking for morel mushrooms. Our variety come out after a fire and are delicious. At Byerley’s in the Twin Cities the dried ones sell for $20 an ounce. Bruce and I plan on eating high on these mushrooms. Next year there will be wild raspberries all over and the year after wild blueberries. Trust us, we will be making the most of these treasures.

One of our neighbors expressed how we all feel when he said, “The loons are still singing and the fish are in the lake.”

4 comments:

Teresa said...

So happy to hear you can go HOME! Thanks for the vivid description on what to expect on the way to the Lodge. It's been overwhelming to see all the photos on the various news sites (tv, newspaper, etc.). I hope settling back in goes well for you all and we look forward to seeing you in September!

Continued thoughts & prayers to those still battling the rest of the fire and those that lost their places.

Teresa
Always An Adventure group
Appleton WI

tiselfar said...

So glad you are safe, and so happy the lodge is in good shape. Best wishes over the coming weeks. I'm praying for rain to soak all of northern MN.

Betty
Previous Gunflint Lodge visitor

Unknown said...

Blessings to you for your resilient spirits! And thanks to you for taking the extra time to keep folks like me (who've never stayed with nor met you, yet love you just the same)apprised of the situation.

Justine would be so proud!

Katie R. said...

We'll be up in July...can't wait. It'll be beautiful no matter what and I bet we might see some green across the lake. It'll be the pretty "new green" I bet. I envy you the morel mushrooms. YUM! We're glad you get to go home. God Bless.